Wellesley Racial Justice Initiative

Session III: Disrupting Racism
2024-05-22 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York)
This interactive experience offers both people with white privilege and PGM a brave space to practice intervening in episodes of racism, whether personal or institutional, to support those being harmed, and to learn the art of constructive feedback. Through role-playing, participants will address all-too-common racist remarks and practices, whether intentional or not. Hone your skills in collaboration with those who support your effectiveness. This is a practice session you will want to experience more than once!
Facilitated by a team of experienced professionals and trained volunteers.

Movie Discussion: Breaking Boundaries and Bamboo Ceilings in "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
2024-05-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Online via Zoom
AAPI Heritage Month with W3A & WRJI: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Join fellow Wellesley alums to celebrate AAPI Heritage month with a viewing and discussion of the ground-breaking, Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. This 2022 movie resonated deeply in the AAPI community and beyond, particularly when Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress.
We will provide a supportive space for learning, self-expression, and thinking about what this movie means to people of Asian descent as well as a broader audience. WRJI’s Natasha Chang ‘93, formerly a professor of literature and film, and Mana Uchino ‘88 will facilitate the discussion.
Movie Discussion: Breaking Boundaries and Bamboo Ceilings in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Sunday, May 19
5pm – 6:30 pm ET/2pm-3:30 pm PT
Via Zoom
Facilitators: Natasha Chang 93 and Mana Uchino ‘88
Sponsored by Wellesley Asian Alumnae Alliance (W3A) & Wellesley Racial Justice Initiative (WRJI)

Movie Watch Party: "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
2024-05-18 20:00 - 22:30 | Online via Zoom
AAPI Heritage Month with W3A & WRJI: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Join fellow Wellesley alums to celebrate AAPI Heritage month with a viewing and discussion of the ground-breaking, Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. This 2022 movie resonated deeply in the AAPI community and beyond, particularly when Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress.
We will provide a supportive space for learning, self-expression, and thinking about what this movie means to people of Asian descent as well as a broader audience. WRJI’s Natasha Chang ‘93, formerly a professor of literature and film, and Mana Uchino ‘88 will facilitate the discussion.
Movie Watch Party: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2hr 19min)
Saturday, May 18
8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT
Via Zoom
Host: Natasha Chang ‘93
Sponsored by Wellesley Asian Alumnae Alliance (W3A) & Wellesley Racial Justice Initiative (WRJI)

Session II: Effective and Respectful Allyship
2024-05-08 20:00 - 21:30 | Online via Zoom
This session explores effective allyship in anti-racism work, both personal and systemic. Some questions we will explore – as an alum with white privilege, what is your role in dismantling white supremacy; as a PGM, how can you strengthen allyship with other PGM and improve your experience of working in alliance with white folks?
We will explore some of the capabilities of effective anti-racist such as – how to negotiate roles with humility and respect, how to support and advocate when a PGM ally is being disrespected, and how to center the lived experience of oppression and remain open to learning.
Facilitated by Tyree Oredein ’98 and Jessica Strauss ’77.

Session I: Recognizing Microaggressions
2024-04-24 20:00 - 21:30 | Online via Zoom
Through presentation and discussion, we will define microaggressions and explore the kinds of harm regularly experienced by members of oppressed groups, whether from individuals or systems, intentional or not. Participants will probe the factors that prevent us from recognizing and addressing microaggressions when we encounter them and identify some of the skills we need to intervene when we witness microaggressions and apologize when we commit them ourselves.

Facilitated by Tyree Oredein ‘98 and Polly Talen ’77.

Book Club - "Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit" by Mary-Frances Winters
2024-03-23 13:00 - 14:30 | Online via Zoom
This is the first book to define and explore Black fatigue, the intergenerational impact of systemic racism on the physical and psychological health of Black people–and explain why and how society needs to collectively do more to combat its pernicious effects.
Black people, young and old, are fatigued, says award-winning diversity and inclusion leader Mary-Frances Winters. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining to continue to experience inequities and even atrocities, day after day, when justice is a God-given and legislated right. And it is exhausting to have to constantly explain this to white people, even–and especially–well-meaning white people, who fall prey to white fragility and too often are unwittingly complicit in upholding the very systems they say they want dismantled.
This book, designed to illuminate the myriad dire consequences of living while Black, came at the urging of Winters’s Black friends and colleagues. Winters describes how in every aspect of life–from economics to education, work, criminal justice, and, very importantly, health outcomes–for the most part, the trajectory for Black people is not improving. It is paradoxical that, with all the attention focused over the last fifty years on social justice and diversity and inclusion, little progress has been made in actualizing the vision of an equitable society.
Summary: Goodreads

The discussion will be led by Fiona Oliphant ’93. While the conversation will be centered around Black fatigue, everyone is welcome to attend and participate.

Advance registration is required. Please register by Thursday, March 21

Movie Night - "Stamped From the Beginning"
2024-02-25 17:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
“Stamped from the Beginning” is a documentary exploring the history of anti-black, racist ideas in America, based on Ibram X. Kendi’s best-selling novel.
Some Americans insist that we’re living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America–it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. As. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.
As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial inequities.
In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, it gives us reason to hope.
Summary: Amazon.com

The discussion will be led by Dr. Tyree Oredein ’98.
Check out the film trailer here.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Friday, February 23.

Monthly Volunteer Mobilizing Meeting
2024-01-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Online via Zoom
Please join us at our first volunteer meeting of the new year! WRJI has many volunteer opportunities for those committed to anti-racism activism. You can serve in developing and delivering programs – or help energize the operations that make them possible. We value your input, expertise, and your passion for racial justice.
Whether you have a few hours a month to serve on a team – or several hours each week to lead one – please join us at our monthly Volunteer Mobilizing Meeting to meet other volunteers and learn more about specific opportunities.

Understanding Microaggressions
2023-12-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Online via Zoom
Join us for this 90-minute workshop on recognizing and working through microaggressions. If you want to cause less harm in your interactions with People of the Global Majority (PGM), this workshop might be just the next right step in your anti-racism journey. This workshop will be led by Polly Talen ’77 from the WRJI team.
Through interactive learning we will:

Define microaggressions and key related terms
Create better awareness of a range of common microaggressions and their impact on PGM
Interrupt and address microaggressions
Probe factors that prevent us from talking about and addressing microaggressions
Develop skills and tools we can use when the initiator or bystander of a microaggression

While all Wellesley alums are welcome, those who have participated in a WRJI “Conversations on Race” session and identify as having white privilege are most likely to benefit.
Understanding Microaggressions is one of WRJI’s several sessions focused on anti-racism skill-building for white alums. Others include How to be a Better Ally and Interrupting Racism.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Wednesday, November 29.

How to be a Better Ally
2023-11-28 20:00 - 21:00 | Online via Zoom
Please join us for a special Giving Tuesday program focusing on being a better ally. Created and facilitated by Fiona Oliphant, Esq, ’93, this popular workshop is intended to help alums to grow and deepen their understanding of effective allyship in anti-racism work. We will explore in depth the most effective ways to offer support, to intervene, to plan and execute action with and in solidarity with BIPOC folx.
Through presentation and discussion, white alums will have the opportunity to challenge themselves: what is your motivation?, what are you willing to give, and give up, to dismantle white supremacy? BIPOC alums are invited to grow stronger allyship with one another and to share their experiences, positive and challenging, of working in alliance with well-meaning white folks.

Movie Night - Nappily Every After
2023-11-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Online via Zoom
A woman’s identification with her hair can be a powerful thing, but for a Black woman, it is a tangled identity fraught with the ongoing effects of racism, respectability politics and beauty standards that have historically marginalized our hair along with everything else.
Based on the bestselling book by Trisha R. Thomas, Nappily Ever After is the story of one woman’s breakthrough—and the hair that might be holding her back.
Sanaa Lathan plays Venus Johnson, a beautiful and highly successful woman who seems to have everything except the ring she so deeply desires. When her longtime boyfriend refuses to commit, she cuts him off—and her hair soon follows. Forced to find out who she really is behind the curtain, Venus must face her insecurities and dismantle everything she thought she knew about herself, hopefully growing into her truth in the process.
Summary: TheRoot.com
The discussion, led by Tyree Oredein ‘98 will be centered around beauty, heritage and identity defined by Black hair. Conversation will include the Crown Act and how hair discrimination is rooted in systematic racism. While the conversation will be centered around Black hair, alums of all identities are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion.
Advance registration is required. Please register by Monday, November 13.
